Cutting surplus from drysuit production

Zippers

Our sustainability

Strap

Paper tag

Buckles

Ok let’s do it. We let the cat out of the bag (in normal words: share information that was previously concealed).

Here you can find the stories behind the bag.

Our sustainability

We keep it simple: by purchasing this bag you give a second life to the material otherwise ending up burning trash.

79 % of the materials used in the bag are recycled or bio-based materials, measured by the material surface area.

We use quality materials to create long life cycle to our product. 5/6 of the components of our bag come from either Finland or Europe. This way we minimise the emissions related to logistics as well as are able to provide better transparency by visiting the factories.

We are continuously seeking for more sustainable business practices and ways to develop our operations.

cutting surplus from drysuit production

After winning the title of Best Higher Education Startup in Finland, we went to compete in Norway. On our way back, we had a layover in Stockholm, where we found out they had double booked the flight, so we had to wait a long time for the next one. While waiting many hours on the airport, Vilma edited our photos from Norway until her phone died. On the flight home a nice man next to her offered his power bank and Vilma noticed the logo on his shirt. She asked him what company it was and the man told her the he represented a wetsuit production company. Business cards quickly exchanged owners, and soon we had scheduled a meeting at the local wetsuit production factory.

When giving us a tour around the facilities, we noticed a pile of leftover fabrics from the production. When we asked what would happen to the pile of fabrics, the man replied that the leftover pieces are too small and could unfortunately not be used to produce any more drysuits, and would just have to be thrown away. That is when Evi said: “NOT ANYMORE”… and at that very moment began our journey together.

Zippers

Souvenirs from Italy! The tip-top zipper that works smooothly for you.

We went to Italy and had a unique chance to visit the beautiful factory of Lampo, and let me tell you it was beautiful. After seeing the manufacturing process of Superlampo zippers it changed the way I look at zippers nowadays– especially this one that we have in the Curious-bag.

Fun facts:

Each zipper tooth has been refined individually.

Quality control after each manufacturing step.

The zippers are 100% made in Italy, each component and process.

The tape is made of 100% post consumer plastic bottles completely sourced in Italy.

Strap

“…but first, coffee”, said our friend Marco in Italy when we met at the Lineapelle fair in Milan this fall.

It was not only about the coffee but also about a great start for a cooperation. We were browsing the catalogue at the fair and soon noticed a weaving technique for a ribbon that caught our attention. And here it is – a custom made jacquard waved strap with Cuitu-logo!

Label System is located in Civitanova Marche, Italy and they have over 30 years’ experience in the industry.

paper Tag

This autumn, Vilma took part in the circular economy event for startups called Frush, from where she found great inspiration and practical solutions for our case. One of the best things was her new link to a company called Painovoima. The company turns textile waste into paper and makes tags for products. They are also constantly piloting other new products. They have curious minds when exploring objects that could be replaced with their innovative solutions, just like us! Quite soon after meeting them, we piloted the first tags for our bag together. They were exceptionally cool and beyond obvious. There were no hesitations when we made the first order from them.

Fun fact: we can even utilize the smallest cutting surplus from our raw material streams to create the tags– what a no waste policy! In addition, to create some extra twist, we can even mix colours to create unique tags that match with the product they are attached to.

Buckles

When we created the first design of the Curious bag, we had an interesting vision of the buckles: we wanted them to be as chunky as possible. We got an interesting contact to a local 3D printing company with whom we created the first prototypes of the 3D printed buckles. However, the cellulose based materials, that we wanted to use, were not strong enough, so we started to scan other opportunities.

After that, we made the same buckles out of metal, but they were heavy and required multiple treatments to give them the shiny look and good quality.

We got a tip from local brands that there is a great wholesaler in Finland that provides high quality buckles in different sizes, produced in Italy and Sweden. We went to check them out and they were a perfect fit to our wide straps. We also went to Lineapelle fair to check the largest selection of buckles in Europe. We found some crazy cool options for the future, but we will reveal them later!